Do you ever feel overwhelmed? This was a question asked by a wonderful family member that I wish I could spend time with, and get to know more...I think we'd be good encouragement for each other...Well, this is how I answered that question...
Well, to answer your question...Oh I so promise you, I for sure get stressed out!
It's not easy, but I trust in God. I pray, talk to and praise Him all day long! If I don't then I have a bad day.
We have 4 of our kids Mon-Wed and then all 6 of our kids Thurs-Sun! And, 2 of them are under 2 1/2 yrs. old! It does get pretty stressful at times. But, we also have the most fun ever! I do understand the not having time or energy to do things after house work, homework, mothering, and wife-ing. But, that's when you pray...A LOT!!!
I look at it like this...they will only be this young for such a very small window of time. They are indeed my children but they are also God's gift to me. God has only loaned them to me to nurture, bring them up for Him and for His glory, and to love them. When they are all grown and out on their own they will take with them what they have learned. I want them to love the Lord, I want them to see the Lord and His love through me, I want them to remember their mom as a woman who may not have been perfect, but who loved them so very much and who also loved God with all of her heart. I want them to remember a happy me. Not a crazy, overly stressed out, obsessive compulsive, overly organized, things have to be perfect, unhappy clean freak, basically a not at all fun lady!
So, who cares if the house isn't perfectly tidy, there are toys out, the beds aren't made, the laundry isn't done every day, the dishes sit in the sink, or you haven't dusted since...well, who knows when! And, who cares if you haven't really gotten the chance to get dressed or even brush your hair yet in the morning (or the afternoon sometimes) but the kids want you to just sit and play...do it.
Sit, relax, praise God, thank Him, and love and enjoy them.
Your house will be clean and tidy...eventually...someday. But, right now your main job is to be an awesome, caring, and loving mom.
One day when they are all grown up and moved out, you will miss them so very much. You will miss the noisy-ness, the business, and even the messiness!
Now, with all that said...I do still get majorly stressed out and I often (constantly) have to remind myself that this is only for such a second in the whole entire grand scheme of things. I'm not perfect but I serve and love a perfect God. He would have never brought me to it, if He couldn't get me through it. Eventually they won't need me...as much, so I praise God for the time that I do have with them now. And, when they aren't depending on me I pray they will be depending on Him.
I thank God for my children everyday and I also thank Him for choosing me and entrusting me to care for His children.
I think it becomes less stressful when you keep that in mind, otherwise the day becomes really poopy!
Hey, by the way...Did you get our Christmas picture? Oh man, talk about stress! That was soooo ridiculous! They had to take and retake that stinkin' picture like 8 times, seriously! Finally I had to say, "Ok, that's enough...we'll just go with the best pose!" Some of the kids look a little...well, silly-ish and they're not all looking at the camera, and my hair is totally sticking out, but Joshua and Gary look perfect and we all survived and we are all alive and well and here to say we've made it! Ya, we probably won't be doing that again for a very long time! Yay, so much fun!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sleeping Dogs...
I got this in an email...This is so funny...This poor pooch would totally be my families dog if we had one...we have cat, and he get's pretty stressed out sometimes!
An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.
I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.
He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head;
he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the
hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.
An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.
This continued off and on for several weeks.
Curious I pinned a note to his collar: "I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and also to ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
"He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"
An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.
I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.
He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head;
he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the
hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.
An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.
This continued off and on for several weeks.
Curious I pinned a note to his collar: "I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and also to ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
"He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Mom Song
Before you watch the video I wanted to say that I originally heard this song from my husband who played it for me off of a internet/radio program who has it posted on their website. Well, I usually agree with their views and opinions on most issues but on this I did not...but hey, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and the world would be pretty boring if we were to all agree on EVERYTHING.
P.S. They didn't like it...they said it sends out a message that moms are stressed out and un-happy. Oh brother...it's funny and true! But, in their defense they are men who said this...they probably don't or can't understand that you can be both completely stressed out and completely happy at the very same time! HeHeHe!
I think this video is hilarious! It's the perfect "MOM song" Mothers do have a very huge responsibility. On top of trying to keep our homes and "wife-ing" under control, running errands, and trying to remain calm and...well sane...we also have the stressful (yet blessed) responsibility of raising children! God must have a sense of humor! I'm sure of it...If I were a betting woman I'd "double down" on that one! It's so amazing to think that our families still come to us (moms) for advice...We are nuts!
Seriously though, I do praise God for trusting me with this amazingly, awesomely, wonderfully, blessed...dare I say job, or task? Well, it IS a job...Mothering is indeed work. I think some mothers cringe at that...Mothering = Job. But, why? We work hard at what we do (I literally work up a sweat sometimes!) and that's ok to admit. If it were easy then we'd have a world full of "little angels" and well...we don't! We were born sinners and well...we act like it! So, mothering does have it's challenges. But, it doesn't mean moms are unhappy or would rather be on vacation. Well, now that depends...I'd love to go to Hawaii! But, not without my kiddies! Well...maybe without them if it was a second honeymoon situation with my loving husbando...then that would be super-duper groovie! But, I would call them everyday...like a gazillion times! And, this probably would never happen until they are like in college or something!
Ok...Anyways, back to the subject on Mothering and it being ok to refer to it as being a job...That's it! Simply put! I will say that being a mom is the most enjoyable yet stressful job that I have ever experienced...and I LOVE every single moment of it! My children will be in my home and under "my wing" for such a small window of time, I want to cherish all moments of this time...even the poopy ones! During the difficult "back sassy" moments God is teaching both my child and I something...what is it? Well, I won't be able to find out if I don't do my "job". If I just sit on my hands and give in to my child and let him/her walk all over me so that I don't offend them or damage their self-image, or put a dent into their self-esteem, then I am really just hurting them for when they are out in the real world dealing with real life.
This world today is full of selfish, obnoxious, self-absorbed, arrogant, little brats whose parents weren't brave enough to obey God's parenting plan but instead chose to go with the world's psycho analyzing, liberal method! And, I'm not saying God's parenting plan is super easy-peasy...cause it's not! It would be so much easier to give in to the whining sassy pants stuff the kids throw at you. It's tough to have rules and remain consistant. It's hard to be the "strict", or the "over protective" mom when your children's friends and even other family members get to pretty much do whatever they want just as long as they're happy. But, I try to remind myself I'm not trying to be "cool", or be my children's "BFF", or get "props" from their "peeps". I'm trying to do a good job of Mothering them, loving them, keeping them safe, raising them to remain respectful even in our world full of "brats", and to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, all of their mind, all of their soul, and with all of their strength!
I fall short...all of the time! But, I do pray that I learn from my mistakes, and do a better job the next time. I thank God everyday for my children, I thank Him for the strength, patience and love He has given me. I am for sure a work in progress, and I am thankful for His patience with me!
When my children are all on their own and I'm sitting at home in my "empty nest", I will indeed be reminiscent of my happy, stressful, crazy at times, blessed beautiful "job" of being a mother!
I love being a mom, thank you God!
P.S. They didn't like it...they said it sends out a message that moms are stressed out and un-happy. Oh brother...it's funny and true! But, in their defense they are men who said this...they probably don't or can't understand that you can be both completely stressed out and completely happy at the very same time! HeHeHe!
I think this video is hilarious! It's the perfect "MOM song" Mothers do have a very huge responsibility. On top of trying to keep our homes and "wife-ing" under control, running errands, and trying to remain calm and...well sane...we also have the stressful (yet blessed) responsibility of raising children! God must have a sense of humor! I'm sure of it...If I were a betting woman I'd "double down" on that one! It's so amazing to think that our families still come to us (moms) for advice...We are nuts!
Seriously though, I do praise God for trusting me with this amazingly, awesomely, wonderfully, blessed...dare I say job, or task? Well, it IS a job...Mothering is indeed work. I think some mothers cringe at that...Mothering = Job. But, why? We work hard at what we do (I literally work up a sweat sometimes!) and that's ok to admit. If it were easy then we'd have a world full of "little angels" and well...we don't! We were born sinners and well...we act like it! So, mothering does have it's challenges. But, it doesn't mean moms are unhappy or would rather be on vacation. Well, now that depends...I'd love to go to Hawaii! But, not without my kiddies! Well...maybe without them if it was a second honeymoon situation with my loving husbando...then that would be super-duper groovie! But, I would call them everyday...like a gazillion times! And, this probably would never happen until they are like in college or something!
Ok...Anyways, back to the subject on Mothering and it being ok to refer to it as being a job...That's it! Simply put! I will say that being a mom is the most enjoyable yet stressful job that I have ever experienced...and I LOVE every single moment of it! My children will be in my home and under "my wing" for such a small window of time, I want to cherish all moments of this time...even the poopy ones! During the difficult "back sassy" moments God is teaching both my child and I something...what is it? Well, I won't be able to find out if I don't do my "job". If I just sit on my hands and give in to my child and let him/her walk all over me so that I don't offend them or damage their self-image, or put a dent into their self-esteem, then I am really just hurting them for when they are out in the real world dealing with real life.
This world today is full of selfish, obnoxious, self-absorbed, arrogant, little brats whose parents weren't brave enough to obey God's parenting plan but instead chose to go with the world's psycho analyzing, liberal method! And, I'm not saying God's parenting plan is super easy-peasy...cause it's not! It would be so much easier to give in to the whining sassy pants stuff the kids throw at you. It's tough to have rules and remain consistant. It's hard to be the "strict", or the "over protective" mom when your children's friends and even other family members get to pretty much do whatever they want just as long as they're happy. But, I try to remind myself I'm not trying to be "cool", or be my children's "BFF", or get "props" from their "peeps". I'm trying to do a good job of Mothering them, loving them, keeping them safe, raising them to remain respectful even in our world full of "brats", and to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, all of their mind, all of their soul, and with all of their strength!
I fall short...all of the time! But, I do pray that I learn from my mistakes, and do a better job the next time. I thank God everyday for my children, I thank Him for the strength, patience and love He has given me. I am for sure a work in progress, and I am thankful for His patience with me!
When my children are all on their own and I'm sitting at home in my "empty nest", I will indeed be reminiscent of my happy, stressful, crazy at times, blessed beautiful "job" of being a mother!
I love being a mom, thank you God!
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